"Speech & Debate" (Metairie)

Sept. 8-24, at the Actor’s Theatre of New Orleans, 4539 N. I-10 Service Road, Suite 200. (504) 456-4111 or www.atnola.org. Tickets are $20. Three Salem Oregon high school outcasts, strangers all, are curiously connected by their affiliations with a local sex scandal whose introduction results in the school’s first speech and debate team. Would-be drama star Diwata posts a video blog implying she knows something about the scandal. Howie leaves his number on her site, insinuating he knows something more, and Solomon contacts them both to get the inside scoop for the school paper. As more secrets are unwittingly and unwillingly revealed, the stakes get higher. (Mature audiences recommended.)